Jesse Lingard says only a Man United win in Manchester derby is good for the city
JESSE LINGARD claims only a United win in the derby is good for Manchester.
And the United attacker believes the town will be painted red come Sunday night after the Old Trafford clash.
Lingard, 24, said: “It might be a battle, it might not be pretty. But if we come out on top, it’s always good for the city of Manchester.
“We need to make sure Manchester is red at the end of the day.”
The midfielder’s comments, coming hot on the heels of Jose Mourinho’s double blast at City, are sure to ramp up the atmosphere ahead of the derby showdown.
United boss Mourinho has accused City of being a bunch of divers and their manager Pep Guardiola of being given a let-off by Uefa for wearing his yellow ribbon in support of Catalonia.
Now Lingard has claimed ‘This City is ours’ — the terrace anthem both sets of supporters sing to taunt their cross-town rivals.
MOST READ IN FOOTBALL
The Warrington-born star came through the United ranks and is well used to the rivalry and insults thrown back and forth by each team’s fans.
There has long been a debate over who has the most fans in the city of Manchester.
The City faithful claim United is not even in Manchester as their ground is in Salford and that most of their fans come from down south.
The Red Devils have fans all over the world and there are certainly plenty of them in Manchester.
And they really need to be the ones celebrating tomorrow night with City currently sitting eight points clear at the top of the table.
There are reasons for that as Mourinho spelt out yesterday while assessing City’s team.
He said: “They are a good team. They defend well, they react well to the moment they lose the ball.
“They have a good dynamic in attack, they have creative movement, amazing players, a fantastic coach, they have lots of good things.”
It was then that Mourinho added his divers jibe and said: “If you ask me one thing I don’t like a lot it is they lose their balance very easily. A little a bit of wind and they fall.”
The Special One proved with the performance at Arsenal last week that United are now a very different side to the one that lost to Guardiola at Old Trafford last season.
United are 11 points better off now than at this stage last season.
Lingard scored twice at the Emirates in a 3-1 win and believes if they can start in the same way against City — they were 2-0 up inside 11 minutes against the Gunners — then they will be collecting three points again.
Lingard said: “It’s going to be full on for 90-plus minutes. We need to be on point until that whistle goes.
DERBY DELIGHT Manchester derby ins and outs with David Silva fit and Zlatan Ibrahimovic ready to play
“As long as we start the game well, like we did at Arsenal, I don’t see any reason why we can’t win.”
But he knows the threats City possess, not least from the feet of his good pal Raheem Sterling, who has popped up with late winners in two of their last three league games.
Lingard also singled out Kevin De Bruyne as a man to keep quiet.
He added: “When De Bruyne’s on the ball, he’s always got that eye for a killer pass that can put a player one-on-one with the keeper.
“And Raheem’s been popping up with the late goals. I’m good friends with him off the pitch.
“But on the pitch there are no friends and we’re there to win.”
Fit-again Marcus Rojo will be back in the centre of defence tomorrow having been rested for the midweek Champions League win over CSKA Moscow.
He said: “I’m really looking forward to Sunday.
“It seemed a long way off when I was injured but now it’s here and I’m fit and raring to go.”